Sony NEX5 versus rival model with similar score

Further readings for the Sony NEX-5

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Launched in September 2011, the Samsung NX200 marks a significant point in the NX line because it features an all-new APS-C CMOS sensor with 20.3megapixels. Among the hybrid cameras, this is about as big as sensors currently get, so Samsung are aiming at the high ground, a fact confirmed by the premium feel all-metal body – a first in the NX-series.

Canon was the last major maker to embrace the hybrid or ‘mirrorless’ camera market. As a somewhat sober debut, designed for those who are new to photography, the EOS M adopts an 18-megapixel APS-C format in a compact body but boasts a number of advanced features including a 31-point hybrid AF system for stills and video and a touch sensitive 3-inch LCD. While it’s clear this camera doesn’t compete directly with the firm’s DSLRs, how does it stack up against the competition that don’t have the same volume of DSLR sales to protect?

Introduced in mid September, the Olympus PEN E-PM2 is the second generation of Olympus’ entry-level Micro Four Thirds hybrid camera. It sports a newly updated design with a useful, fixed grip and a touch-screen interface among other updates, but the big news is that it has inherited the sensor of the much-admired Olympus OM-D E-M5, the current top-of-the-line Micro Four Thirds camera.

Announced at IFA 2012, Sony’s NEX-5R is the third version of its very popular NEX-5 camera. This new model features a 16-megapixel APS-C EXMOR sensor composed of photosites that provide autofocusing by phase detection. Has Sony improved the image quality of its latest mid-range compact hybrid? Our tests reveal the answer.

High Tech in a Classic Package: The Hybrid Viewfinder

The X100 has been one of the most anticipated compact cameras. Although it looks like an old rangefinder, it is a very modern device. Its most obvious innovation is its hybrid viewfinder that combines both an optical viewfinder and an electronic one, projecting the information from the electronic viewfinder onto the optical one. And this really works!

The EOS 1100D (Rebel T3) replaces the EOS 1000 as Canon’s entry-level body. It combines a 12-megapixel sensor, Canon’s 9-point AF engine coupled to the 63-zone metering system introduced by the EOS7D, and of course the now-standard Digic 4 image processor. Taken individually, none of these features is really new, but the combination of all these solid elements should prove interesting. Moreover, the EOS 1100D is now gifted with a video recording function… but only 720p, which could be a limitation compared to what competitors propose for a similar price point.